Poll: 46 percent think the news media fabricates stories about Trump

President Donald Trump spoke Tuesday at the Heritage Foundation's President's Club meeting in Washington, D.C. A new poll shows that 46 percent of voters believe the news media makes up stories about Trump and his administration. (Martin H. Simon/Getty Images)

What did the poll find?

According to the poll, 46 percent of voters believe the news media makes up stories about Trump and his administration, while 37 percent of voters do not believe the media fabricates stories. Another 17 percent were undecided.

The poll found that the divide is very partisan — 76 percent of Republican voters think the news media invents stories about Trump and his administration, while just 11 percent don’t think they make up stories. Among Democrats, 20 percent said the media makes up stories about Trump, while a 65 percent majority said they do not. Forty-four percent of independent voters think the media fabricates stories about Trump, while 31 percent said they do not.

Among voters who said they strongly approve of Trump’s job performance, 85 percent said the media invents stories about the president and his administration.

What about censorship?

After objecting to an NBC News report last week, Trump asked when it would be “appropriate” to challenge NBC’s “license.”

According to the poll, just 28 percent said the government should be able to revoke broadcast licenses of major news organizations if it says they are fabricating news stories about a president, while 51 percent think the government should not have that power. Another 21 percent said they are undecided.

A majority of Democrats, 68 percent, think the federal government should not be able to revoke broadcast licenses of news organizations it objects to. Meanwhile, 46 percent of Republicans said the government should have that power, while 33 percent said they should not.

What does it mean?

Throughout his presidency and his bid for the White House, Trump has dismissed critical coverage as fake news, and has attacked numerous political commentators, reporters, and media outlets (including TheBlaze).

On Tuesday, Trump called major news networks “fiction writers.”

“Voters, particularly Trump supporters, have become disenchanted with the national media,” Kyle Dropp, chief research officer and co-founder of Morning Consult, told Politico. “Even 20 percent of Democrats think that the national media fabricate stories on President Trump and his administration. That being said, many are still not willing to let the federal government censor the media.”

The poll, which was conducted Oct.12-16, surveyed 1,991 registered voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.